Return From Oblivion
by RkieFan
Summary: Filler for 'Journey To Oblivion.' Takes place after Jill is rescued from the boxcar.


DISCLAIMER: The characters are the property of Spelling/Goldberg Productions and Viacom. No copyright infringement is intended.  
  
TITLE: RETURN FROM OBLIVION  
  
RATING: R  
  
SETTING: Fourth Season. The story is a filler for "Journey To Oblivion' written by Skip Webster. The story contains dialogue from the episode.  
  
SUMMARY: This is my take on what might have transpired after Terry and Chris in 'Journey To Oblivion' rescued Jill. My thanks to Bridget for beta reading for me, even though I know she's up to her eyeballs getting ready for August. Thanks, Bridget.  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTES: The song 'Have I Told You Lately' was written and originally sung by Van Morrison (although Rod Stewart did an admirable job). It's available on 'Van Morrison's Greatest Hits' CD.   
  
PART ONE: The Rescue  
  
Jill sat in the back of the police rescue helicopter watching the trees and the ground rush by. Now that she was finally safe she began to relax. The hum of the chopper blades was a rhythmic, comforting sound. She leaned her head back and reflected over the events of the past two days.  
  
Now that she was safe, the main thought on Jill's weary mind was seeing Mike. Terry, Chris and Lt. Ryker had all assured her that Mike was fine, but she had to see him for herself. That was the only thought that had kept her going the last two days.  
  
Her leg throbbed and she was hungry, thirsty and sleepy. She'd been able to con a little water from Chris and Terry, but they didn't want to take any chances in case she had internal injuries. She'd tried to argue with them, telling them she was fine except for her leg, but they were adamant. No water until a doctor had examined her.  
  
Ryker turned around in his seat to face her. He'd never seen a more welcome sight in his life. "We'll be at Memorial in about ten minutes, Mrs. Danko," he reassured her. "How are you holding up?"  
  
"I'm okay. Are you sure Mike's okay?" She asked him for the thousandth time.  
  
"He's fine. Anxious about you, but other than that, he's fine," Ryker told her yet again.  
  
She closed her eyes. She heard the pilot radio into the hospital, asking for and receiving clearance to land on the helipad on the roof of Memorial Hospital. Her stomach lurched as the chopper began its descent. Once it finally landed the door was thrown open and a team of doctors met them and nurses complete with a gurney.  
  
Jill balked at the thought of being strapped to the gurney. "I can walk downstairs."  
  
"Let them do their job. I'm going to go get Mike and we'll meet you downstairs in a few minutes," Ryker told her firmly. He watched as she reluctantly allowed the doctors to strap her in. Once assured she was settled in securely Ryker walked off to find Mike.  
  
  
  
Mike was sitting in a chair staring glumly out the window when Ryker walked in. "Lieutenant! What are you doing here?" Mike asked anxiously, jumping to his feet.  
  
"Jill's downstairs in the emergency room right now. She's okay," he quickly continued as he saw the look of concern on Mike's face. "They're checking her over, but I have a feeling if I don't get you downstairs fast she's liable to bolt."  
  
"Then what are we waiting for?" Mike demanded, grabbing his robe and shrugging into it. "Let's go!"   
  
"Don't you need a wheelchair?" Ryker asked wryly.  
  
"I can walk! What are we waiting for?" Mike asked impatiently.  
  
  
  
Jill was lying on the examining table while the on-call doctor examined her.   
  
He'd had the nurse cut the leg on her pants so he could get a full view of the damage that had been done. "Let's get some x-rays of this leg," he'd stated once he'd finished his examination. "Also start an IV of D5W to re-hydrate her. Any other injuries I should know about, Jill?" He asked, shining a light into her eyes.  
  
"No," she answered softly, trying not to panic. "I just need to see my husband."   
  
Just then the door opened and Mike and Ryker walked in.   
  
"Are you really okay?" Jill asked anxiously after catching sight of her husband. The relief that he was relatively unharmed sank in and she kissed him, eyes filling with tears. She pulled him as close to her as humanly possible.   
  
"I'm okay, babe, but I should be asking you the same thing," he smiled as he kissed her over and over.  
  
"She'll be fine," the doctor interjected, trying not to smile. "She's suffering from dehydration and exhaustion, but I don't think it's anything that some food, water and a good night's sleep won't cure. Let me check on your x-rays." He discretely left the room to give them some privacy.  
  
Jill fought to keep her eyes opened as adrenaline left her and she felt exhaustion taking over. She grabbed Mike's hand in hers and held onto it tightly, reassuring herself that his being there wasn't a dream.  
  
"It's okay, baby. Get some sleep. I'm not going anywhere," Mike assured her, kissing her lightly on the lips.  
  
She sighed contentedly and drifted off to sleep.  
  
  
PART TWO: BLAIR'S STORY  
  
Meanwhile at the boxcar, the ambulance had just arrived to transport Blair to the hospital. Terry and Chris had flipped a coin. Terry had won the toss (or lost, depending on how you looked at it) and was going to ride to the hospital with Blair, getting his statement on the way. Chris had to wait for the medical examiner to arrive and officially pronounce Ritchie dead before he could leave and go back into town.  
  
Terry had read Blair his rights shortly after Jill's rescue. He waited for the ambulance attendants to check Blair over before taking a seat beside him and taking a pad and pen from his pocket.  
  
"Can I get a statement from him?" Terry tonelessly asked the ambulance attendant.  
  
"Yeah, just try to make it brief as possible," the paramedic answered quietly.  
  
"Sure. I wouldn't want to 'tire' him," Terry remarked sarcastically. He turned to face Blair and sighed. " I need to ask you a few questions, Winfield. First, I think it's only fair to tell you that a unit picked up your father a little while ago. He's being charged with aiding and abetting, although I'm sure the DA will probably have a few other charges to throw in as well. Now, how did you get mixed up with Ritchie Malone? How'd he come to be mixed up in this ugly little scheme of yours?"  
  
"A guy I knew from Santa Anita told me about him," Blair answered weakly, turning to stare out the window. "I didn't want to go to prison. I met him and he told me he'd kill Mrs. Danko for five thousand dollars. I was going to get the money from my father."  
  
"So your father knew you were planning on killing Mrs. Danko?" Terry asked neutrally, absorbing the information.  
  
"He tried to talk me out of it. He told me to get out of his life and stay out," Blair closed his eyes against the pain in his chest.  
  
"Okay," Terry answered unemotionally. "Whose idea was it to shoot Officer Danko?"   
  
"That wasn't supposed to happen," Blair protested weakly. "He got in the way so Ritchie shot him."  
  
"How did the car end up at the bottom of the embankment?" Terry queried.  
  
"I don't remember all of the details. I laid my gun down on the front seat of the car. Mrs. Danko grabbed it and we all started fighting over it. That's all I know until I woke up in the boxcar. She told me that Ritchie'd carried me there after we crashed. I guess he lost control of the car trying to get the gun. She told me something about taking a piece of metal out of my chest."  
  
"She did what?" Terry asked curiously, glancing at the paramedic for confirmation.  
  
"Someone did do some sort of meatball surgery on him," the paramedic admitted. "They did a pretty good job too. Otherwise he wouldn't be here now."  
  
"Ritchie was crazy," Blair continued quickly. "I tried to protect her. I offered him a thousand dollars extra if he'd just leave her alone. I don't know what would've happened if you and your partner hadn't shown up when you did."   
  
"He needs to rest, Officer," the attendant warned Terry anxiously after observing Blair's vital signs start to drop slightly.   
  
  
  
Chris was already at the hospital talking to Ryker when Terry came in with the gurney bearing Winfield.   
  
"You got here fast," Terry told his partner.  
  
"The M.E. arrived right after you left," Chris answered. "It only took about a minute for him to confirm what we already knew. He pronounced Malone dead and carted him off so I high-tailed it back here. How's Winfield?"   
  
"He'll live to go to prison. How's Jill?" Terry asked.  
  
"She's okay. Her leg's cut and bruised, but she won't let them admit her. I guess under the circumstances they agreed with her. She's asleep in the examining room right now. Mike's in there with her," Chris concluded with a smile on his face.   
  
"Winfield told me she took a piece of metal out of his chest after the accident. She saved his life." Terry said in a dazed voice.  
  
"Did you find out how the accident happened?" Ryker asked.  
  
"Yeah. He said he'd laid his gun on the front seat of the car. Jill grabbed it and Malone lost control of the car trying to get the gun. He told me he kept Malone from trying to rape her," Terry concluded bitterly.  
  
"How in the hell did he manage that?" Ryker demanded incredulously.  
  
"Money! He offered him a thousand dollars extra to leave Jill alone," Terry spat out bitterly.   
  
  
  
The doctor walked in with her x-rays, followed by Lt. Ryker, who pulled up a stool and sat beside Mike, who wasn't about to let go of Jill's hand. The doctor smiled and started bandaging Jill's leg.  
  
"How'd you find her?" Mike asked softly, not wanting to wake his wife. He absently brushed a lock of hair off of Jill's face.  
  
"I played a long shot, but we ended up finding her quicker than I thought we would," Ryker answered quietly. "I arranged for Owens and Webster to place a phone call to Winfield, Sr., telling him that Blair had been involved in an accident. We figured he knew where Blair and friend were taking Jill. Winfield, Sr. left his office building and I followed him from the air while Owens and Webster followed him."   
  
"How'd she end up getting hurt, and where are Terry and Chris?" Mike demanded.  
  
"Let me finish, Danko, and I'll explain," Ryker replied in an affronted voice.  
  
"Sorry, sir," Mike apologized contritely.  
  
"As I said, Owens and Webster were tailing Winfield. He was a few miles ahead of them but I was tracking him from the air. They radioed me that they had found the wreckage of a car that matched the description you'd given us. When they went to check it out they came across an abandoned boxcar and Ritchie Malone. He tried to shoot it out with them and got himself killed," Ryker looked at Mike as he finished his tale.  
  
"How'd the car get wrecked?" Mike asked in a subdued voice, stroking Jill's hand.  
  
"We don't know. Jill didn't say much and Webster didn't say what he got out of Winfield, Jr. He was injured pretty badly in the accident," Ryker finished.  
  
The doctor looked at the two men as he finished bandaging Jill's leg. "I should admit her for overnight observation, but, -" he quickly continued as he saw Mike start to object. "In light of all that's happened, I think I'll leave her in your very capable hands. When are you going to be discharged?"  
  
"Doc Peters says a couple of days," Mike answered.  
  
"I think I can bend the rules and leave her with you for that long. I'll get her some scrubs to change into when she wakes up until she can get some clean clothes from home," the doctor continued while making the appropriate notations on Jill's chart.  
  
"How long do you think she'll sleep?" Mike asked in concerned voice, gently trailing a finger along her cheek.   
  
"That's hard to say. The rest will do her good. I'll take out the IV in a little while," the doctor said. "Why don't you go back upstairs and we'll bring her upstairs in half an hour or so? Go on, Mike. She'll be fine."  
  
"Come on, Danko. We can go out and talk to Owens and Webster," Ryker concurred, taking Mike's arm and leading him out of the room.  
  
Chris and Terry were standing out in the hall where they were joined by Mike and Ryker.  
  
"How's Jill?" Chris asked anxiously.  
  
"Okay, I guess. She fell asleep right after she saw that I was okay," Mike answered tiredly, looking toward the door. "So, did Winfield give you any information on how him and Jill got hurt?"  
  
"Not much. Just something about there being a fight over a gun and Malone losing control of the car and rolling it. The ambulance attendants wouldn't let me ask too many questions," Terry muttered sarcastically.  
  
"I'm going to see when they're moving Jill upstairs," Mike stated tonelessly, going back into the examining room.  
  
  
  
PART THREE: REUNITED AT LAST WITH MIKE  
  
Mike was lying on one of the two beds in his room, waiting for Jill to wake up. They'd brought her upstairs a few hours earlier. Up until a few minutes ago she'd been sound asleep. In the last few minutes, though, she had been stirring ever so slightly. Mike knew from experience that she was having a nightmare. He watched her carefully, knowing that sometimes she settled back to sleep on her own. He was just thankful that she was okay and that Terry and Chris had been able to find her before anything happened.  
  
"No!" Jill screamed, bolting upright and gasping for air.  
  
"It's okay, babe," Mike reassured her gently, sitting beside her and holding her close. "You're safe now."  
  
Jill blinked a few times in confusion, pulling away from Mike slightly. With tears in her eyes she lightly touched his face. "Mike? Where are we? Are you really okay?" She asked him breathlessly.  
  
"Yeah, I'm okay. I'll be out of here in a couple of days," he assured her, taking her hand and kissing her fingers. "How about you? How are you feeling?"  
  
"Better now," she answered shakily, dream still vivid in her mind. "I thought they'd killed you." She wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his neck. She didn't think she'd ever let go of him again.  
  
"Hey, Terry and Chris were here earlier. They brought you a gown and robe from home," Mike said, gently extricating Jill's arms from around his neck so he could study her.  
  
Jill glanced down in distaste at the hospital gown she was now wearing. "I guess my own gown would be more comfortable than this," She winced as she climbed out of bed and gingerly put some weight on her injured leg. "What's the verdict on my leg?"   
  
"The doctor said it's just bruised. He said you could have some Tylenol for pain later if you need it. You need help changing clothes?" He offered with a grin.  
  
"I can see you're feeling better," she answered wryly, trying not to smile. "No, thank you. I can manage very well on my own." She limped toward the bathroom and closed the door.  
  
Jill hobbled out of the bathroom several minutes later, feeling human for the first time in over two days. She hobbled back to the bed and curled up beside Mike. "What did Terry and Chris have to say?" She asked quietly, snuggling close to him.  
  
"Not much. They just dropped your clothes off. They did say they had some questions for you later after you woke up," he answered tenderly, kissing the top of her head. "Are you hungry? They should be bringing dinner around pretty soon."  
  
"Dinner? What time is it?" She asked in bewilderment.  
  
"Almost six. You were asleep for a long time," he informed her , stroking her arm absently.  
  
They both glanced up as they heard a light tapping on the door. The door opened and Terry stuck his head in. "Hi. Is it all right if we come in?"  
  
"Come on in," Mike waved them into the room.  
  
"Hey, look who's awake," Chris exclaimed, following Terry into the room. "How are you feeling?"  
  
"Very lucky," Jill smiled at both of them as she clutched Mike tighter.  
  
"Uh, Jill, we need to ask you some questions," Terry began hesitantly. "I got a statement from Blair but we still have a lot of unanswered questions."  
  
"What do you need to know?" Jill asked wearily.   
  
Chris glanced at Terry in surprise. Terry had warned him that Jill tended to want to just ignore bad experiences.   
  
"Do you know who shot Mike?" Terry asked, pulling out his notebook.  
  
"Ritchie Malone," Jill answered quietly, unable to look him in the eye. "Blair had a gun, but he put it on the front seat of the car between himself and Ritchie when they took off with me. They started arguing."  
  
"Arguing about what?" Chris interjected.  
  
Jill took a deep breath as she began relating the events leading up to the car wreck. "Ritchie wanted to pull off somewhere and have a 'party.' Blair told him to just keep driving. I saw the gun lying on the front seat and I grabbed it. They both tried to get the gun back. That's when Ritchie lost control of the car and rolled it down the embankment."  
  
"Blair said you took a piece of metal out of his chest. How'd you manage to do that?" Terry asked curiously.  
  
"Ritchie had a fishing knife in the trunk of the car. I made an incision in Blair's chest, took out the metal and bound him up with some strips torn from Ritchie's shirt."  
  
"Why, Jill?" Chris probed, confused. He'd been wanting to know the answer to that question for several hours.  
  
"Why what? Why did I help him?" Jill questioned.  
  
Chris nodded.   
  
"I figured I had a better chance of overall survival if I kept Blair alive. I knew deep down that if Blair died, then Ritchie was going to kill me," Jill concluded in a shaky voice. She closed her eyes wearily as she clung to Mike. She really didn't want to talk about the events of those two days any more. It was over. She was safe and sound.  
  
"Jill, we can see you're getting tired so we'll come back in the morning," Terry decided sympathetically, motioning for Mike to meet them out in the hallway.  
  
"Babe, I'll be back in a few minutes," Mike said, following the two cops out into the hall.  
  
"Mike, I know she doesn't want to talk about what happened, but Ryker's on our butts. Please make her understand that we're just doing our job," Terry explained once they were outside.  
  
"Maybe I can get her to talk to me. Have you guys talked to Winfield anymore?" Mike asked.  
  
"No. He's still under sedation. We're going to try again in the morning. We'll let you guys get some rest and we'll stop back by in the morning," Terry said, slapping Mike on the arm.  
  
  
It was almost impossible to find a comfortable position to sleep in that night. The hard hospital bed was unyielding enough for one person, let alone two people. Mike lay awake most of the night, just holding Jill and watching her sleep, thanking God she was still alive. She woke up constantly, as if to reassure herself that he hadn't gone anywhere.  
  
Jill jolted awake the next morning when she reached for Mike and he wasn't there. She sat up and looked around. She spied him was putting their things in his overnight bag. "Mike, what are you doing?" She asked, stretching and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.  
  
"I talked to the doctor and he told me as long as I take things easy, I can go home. How does that sound to you?" He grinned, eyes twinkling.  
  
"Home sounds wonderful," she smiled back at him.  
  
PART FOUR: BLAIR TELLS THE REST OF THE STORY  
  
When Terry and Chris arrived at the hospital the next morning they were told that Mike and Jill had both been discharged. They decided to get more information out of Blair. The doctor informed them that they could talk to him for ten minutes. A guard unlocked the door to his room and let them in, telling them to knock when they were ready to leave.  
  
Blair was sitting up in his bed, an untouched tray of food in front of him.  
  
"We need to ask you some more questions, Winfield," Terry demanded shortly.  
  
"I don't know what else I can tell you that you don't already know," Blair answered wearily.  
  
"Just bear with us, okay?" Terry stated, trying not to lose his patience. The entire situation was starting to get on his nerves. "Now, when I came in to read you your rights yesterday, you had your gun. Mrs. Danko confirmed that, but what I want to know is how you got it back?"   
  
"Mrs. Danko told Ritchie I needed water. When he was gone she reached into her jacket, pulled out my gun and gave it to me. I don't know why she didn't use it," Blair concluded.  
  
"Maybe because she's not a killer," Chris said bitterly.  
  
"I know that," Winfield snapped. "But the night of the accident, she sent Ritchie out to look for water. We both fell asleep and he came back sometime later. If she'd used the gun right then and there she could've saved us both a lot of grief," he said.  
  
"Yeah, well, maybe if you hadn't been in Roger Marsten's room that afternoon, you would've saved her and her husband a lot of grief," Chris countered.  
  
"I think we've got everything we need. I guess we'll see you at your arraignment," Terry finished, snapping his notebook closed and motioning to Chris that it was time to leave before the situation deteriorated any further.  
  
"Is my father okay?" Blair asked in a subdued voice as the two men walked toward the door.  
  
"Yeah, he was able to post bond. I heard he got out of jail this morning," Terry told him. He knocked on the door and the guard opened the door to let them out. Terry looked at Chris while they were waiting for the elevator.  
  
"You need to get a check on your emotions. If you don't, you're never going to get through the trial," Terry told his friend.  
  
"I know. He just makes me so mad," Chris answered.  
  
"Well, if he makes you mad, how do you think Jill and Mike must feel? Think about that the next time you want to focus your anger on something," Terry told him as they stepped into the elevator.  
  
PART FIVE: MIKE TRIES TO UNDERSTAND  
  
Mike went back to work several days later. It had been an exhausting week. He and Jill had had several meetings with the DA giving depositions. Jill still wouldn't willingly talk about what had transpired in the boxcar, but Mike was about to find out more than he wanted to know.  
  
Mike was in the locker room getting dressed when Terry and Chris came in.  
  
"Hey, aren't you back a little soon?" Terry asked in surprise, pleased to see Mike back on duty.  
  
"The doctor gave me a clean bill of health, so here I am," Mike answered, slamming his locker closed.  
  
"Hey, can we talk to you later?" Terry asked as Mike headed for the door.  
  
"Sure. How about we meet at lunchtime? I'll even buy," Mike said, smiling.  
  
"I'm not about to argue with that," Terry smiled.  
  
  
  
At twelve noon Mike met Terry and Chris at a local hamburger place. Mike ordered his food and joined the two men at an outside table.  
  
"We haven't seen much of you since you got out of the hospital," Terry commented, taking a bite of his hamburger.  
  
"Yeah, we've been pretty busy...giving depositions and stuff. I heard that Winfield's going to be transferred to the jail sometime this week," Mike replied noncommittally, picking at his food.  
  
"Yeah, we heard that, too. Has Jill told you anything else about what happened?" Terry asked curiously.  
  
"Are you kidding? This is Jill we're talking about," Mike answered bitterly.  
  
"So, you didn't know that Jill had Winfield's gun during most of the ordeal?" Terry asked.  
  
"Who told you that?" Mike demanded hotly, glancing up at him sharply.  
  
"Winfield did," Chris continued, not understanding why Mike was so upset. "We questioned him again the morning after the rescue. He said he didn't know Jill had his gun until she gave it to him just before we found her."   
  
"Wait! Let me get this straight. Jill had Winfield's gun and she gave it back to him?" Mike was confused over this latest revelation.  
  
"Apparently he tried to get Jill to leave. She'd sent Malone looking for water and he tried to get her to leave and find a road before Malone got back," Terry explained.  
  
  
  
  
Jill was cooking dinner when she heard Mike's key in the door. Like Mike, she'd also returned to work. He got a beer out of the refrigerator before walking over and kissing her.   
  
"How was your day?" Jill asked, stirring the food on the stove.  
  
"Long, but it was good to be back," he answered, taking a sip of his beer. "I had lunch with Terry and Chris this afternoon."   
  
Jill looked at Mike curiously. "What did they have to say?" She asked neutrally.  
  
"They told me that you had Winfield's gun the entire time you were in the boxcar," Mike began, trying not to get angry. There were times when he honestly didn't understand how her mind worked.  
  
Jill turned off the gas and stared into the stew thoughtfully. "Yeah, I had his gun," she finally answered after a few seconds. "I found it in the wreckage."   
  
"Well, why didn't you use it?" Mike demanded.  
  
"Why didn't I use it?!" She countered in disbelief and anger. "For the same reason that I didn't let Blair die when I had the chance. I didn't have any more right to play God than they did! I told Blair as much when he asked me why I took the metal out of his chest.". She stormed into the living room, sitting on the couch and folding her arms across her chest.  
  
"When you gave Winfield the gun, didn't it ever occur to you that he might use the gun on you?" Mike demanded furiously, following her into the living room.  
  
"Mike, he wasn't going to use the gun on me." Jill took a deep breath as she got up and went back to the kitchen. She turned the stove back on.  
  
"Terry told me they heard gunshots right before they found you. What happened?" Mike asked, following her into the kitchen.  
  
"Ritchie told Blair he wanted to know where to pick his money up. Blair refused. He knew that once Ritchie knew that he'd kill us both there and then. Ritchie wasn't too happy with that answer. Blair pulled out the gun. They fought over it, and that's what the guys heard," Jill answered tonelessly as she set the table.  
  
"Can I ask you a question?" Mike asked as he started helping her.  
  
"What?" Jill asked warily, wishing he'd just drop the subject already.  
  
"You're not going to get on the witness stand and make Winfield sound like a poor little rich kid, are you?" Mike said.  
  
"Now you're being ridiculous," she snapped, slamming the plate on the table. " I am certainly NOT going to let him walk. I told him as much when we were in the boxcar." She stalked back into the kitchen, stirred the stew for a few minutes until it was hot enough, then served both of them. She returned the pot into the kitchen and then went inside to take her place at the table, not the least bit hungry at this point.  
  
"I heard a rumor that he might cop a plea. I guess if he does, we'll hear something from the DA in a few days," Mike mused, picking up his fork and digging in.  
  
"If he cops a plea, won't they drop some of the charges?" Jill asked, picking up her fork and playing with her food.  
  
"Sure. They'll have to rob Peter to pay Paul but they won't drop the more serious charges. Did the DA ask you about the gun?" Mike probed.   
  
"Of course he asked me! I don't think he'd appreciate it very much if I just blurted it out on the witness stand. Can we just drop this, please?" Jill asked in a high pitched voice, concentrating on her plate.  
  
"Sure," he agreed, seeing how upset she was. "Hey, the stew is great. Is it a new   
recipe?" He asked after a few seconds, deciding to drop the subject for now.   
  
She nodded gratefully and took a bite. "You really like it? I found it in a magazine. It is pretty good."  
  
  
  
Terry was walking up the stairs a couple of days later when he heard music coming from the pool area. The song was familiar, he just couldn't think of the name of it. 'The Turtles,' he suddenly remembered, snapping his fingers in remembrance. He walked toward the pool where he spotted Jill lying on a chaise lounge, a pair of sunglasses pulled over her eyes and Mike's cassette player on a table at her side. Her leg was still several different colors from the accident. She raised her sunglasses when she heard Terry's footsteps approaching.  
  
"Hi. I heard The Turtles, so I knew it had to be either you or Mike out here," Terry greeted cheerfully, sitting in a chair beside her.  
  
"Mike's working three to eleven today, so I decided to come out here and get some sun," Jill answered, reaching over and turning the tape off.  
  
"Is that really why you're out here, or were you maybe hoping to see me or Chris?" Terry smiled at her. "I saw Mike a couple of days ago and he looked like a man who had a lot on his mind. Do you want to talk about it?"  
  
"I never had a chance to thank you and Chris for saving my life," Jill stated quietly.  
  
"Hey, what are friends for?" Terry replied, squeezing her hand.  
  
"Mike doesn't understand why I didn't use Blair's gun," she continued reflectively  
  
"I think I understand why you didn't use it. And I think Mike does, too. He just can't admit it to himself yet. Did you think about using it?" Terry asked.  
  
"For about two seconds," Jill answered honestly. "But I took an oath, and that oath's very important to me. And I meant what I told him in the boxcar...life's the most precious gift we have and no one has the right to take it."  
  
"Did you tell Mike that?" Terry asked.  
  
"He didn't give me the chance, and I was afraid that he'd just continue the argument," she answered, lowering the sunglasses back over her eyes.  
  
"Why did you give the gun back to Blair?" Terry asked quietly, digesting this information.  
  
"Ritchie was going to kill both of us, Terry. I don't know why you guys keep asking me the same questions over and over," she snapped, her voice rising.  
  
"I'm sorry. I know it how hard it must be to keep rehashing this," Terry said sympathetically.  
  
"If you and Chris hadn't shown up when you did, I'd be dead and so would Blair. He kept Ritchie away from me not once but twice. There wouldn't have been a third time," Jill continued.  
  
"Well, that might be what Mike's seeing right now," Terry explained thoughtfully. "Not that you're a nurse but that he'd never see you again. He was scared, Jill. When we walked into his room without you that day, he looked like his world was going to end."  
  
"I was scared, too," she admitted quietly, voice shaking. "I kept seeing him falling to the ground when they shot him. Then, when you and Chris rescued me and he wasn't with you...-"she broke off, not able to continue.  
  
"Well, I'm going to leave you with your music," Terry announced, giving her a smile as he got to his feet. "I have a date and if I don't start getting ready she'll think I stood her up."   
  
"Hey, Terry? Thanks."   
  
  
  
The phone was ringing when Jill walked back into the apartment. She hurried to answer it before it whoever was on the other end of the line had a chance to hang up. "Hello?" Jill answered the phone breathlessly.  
  
"Mrs. Danko, this is Allan Perryman from the DA's office. I was wondering if I could see you and your husband in my office tomorrow morning," Mr. Perryman said in a cheerful voice.  
  
"What time tomorrow?" Jill asked nervously.   
  
"9am?" Mr. Perryman inquired.  
  
"Nine's okay," she answered in a small voice.   
  
"I'll see you, then. Oh, and Mrs. Danko? It's okay. Mr. Winfield and his attorney aren't going to be there," Mr. Perryman said as he broke the connection.  
  
Jill hung up the phone and contemplated calling Mike then thought better of it. She decided to leave him a note instead. Calling him in the middle of his shift would just worry him.  
  
  
  
Mike walked into the apartment at a quarter to twelve and went into the kitchen to fix himself something to eat. He stopped when he spotted Jill's note on a pad by the phone.  
He picked it up and read it.   
"Oh, great," he mumbled to himself after he'd finished, crumpling the paper and throwing it in the garbage can. The last thing he needed after working a 3 to 11 was to be at some DA's office by 9am. He stalked into the kitchen, made himself a sandwich and glass of milk and went to sit at the kitchen table, pondering wondered what kind of deal the DA ended up offering.  
  
"Mike?" Jill's voice ventured, breaking into his reverie. "Did you find my note?"  
  
"Yeah. I was just sitting here thinking about it. I didn't mean to wake you up," he apologized, walking over and kissing her.  
  
"Mmm, peanut butter. You didn't wake me up. I'm having a little trouble sleeping," she admitted, hugging him.  
  
"It'll be okay, babe. One way or the other he's definitely going to go to prison. I just don't know for how long," he reassured her confidently, leading them both to the couch.  
  
"Mike, I've been thinking a lot today, and I hope you can understand something." She looked at him intently. "I couldn't have let either Blair or Ritchie die. I took an oath when I became a nurse to not waste human life...ANY human life. Do you understand what I'm saying?" She took his hand in hers and squeezed it.  
  
"Yeah, I understand what you're saying," he took her hand and kissed it. "You know what?"  
  
"What?" She asked, smiling at the tone of his voice.  
  
"Well, we're both up and I'm not really hungry..." he began with a grin.  
  
"You're not hungry? Well, that's a first," she teased.  
  
"Very funny," he remarked, rolling his eyes. "Anyway, you can't sleep and I'm too keyed up to sleep anyway..."  
  
"And..." she prompted.  
  
"And, I say we go into the bedroom and try to unwind before we have to go to the DA's office tomorrow," he concluded, kissing her on the lips.  
  
"Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?" She asked knowingly.  
  
"And you're thinking the same thing, Mrs. Danko, otherwise you wouldn't have figured it out right away," he countered as he started nibbling her ear.  
  
"Hmmmm," she sighed contentedly, closing her eyes. "You know something?"  
  
"Yeah?" He asked absently, trailing kisses down her neck.  
  
"Sometimes you have some really good ideas," she whispered as she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him.  
  
"Isn't that why you married me?" He asked innocently.  
  
"Is that why?"  
  
"Come on." He helped her to her feet and they went into the bedroom together.   
  
PART SIX: CONCLUSION  
  
The next morning, Mike and Jill walked into the DA's office shortly before 9 o'clock. They were ushered into his office and offered coffee, which they both declined.  
  
Allan Perryman was a tall, gray-haired man in his middle forties with a rather no-nonsense approach to the law. "We reached a plea bargain agreement with Mr. Winfield and his attorney yesterday morning," Perryman informed them briskly, sitting down at his desk and pulling out a manila folder. "Let me tell you what we have. First, let me tell you that I'm not thrilled with this agreement but I think it's the best we can do unless you want to go to trial, and that could take at least a year. Initially, Mr. Winfield was charged with murder, conspiracy to commit murder, assault with intent to kill, kidnapping, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon and witness tampering. We dropped the conspiracy, witness tampering and the assault charges. He's going to go to prison for 15 years to life on the murder two charge and kidnapping. That'll make him eligible for parole in seven and a half years. If he went to trial and got convicted the sentence would, of course, be a lot longer, but that's assuming that he would be found guilty. The other side of the coin is that he could be found not guilty, and it IS a possibility. Officer Danko, you know that as well as I do."  
  
"I do," Mike nodded. How well he DID know, but unfortunately that was just the system. It was just harder to accept when it involved his wife.   
  
"So are you agreeable to the plea or would you rather go to trial? It's your decision. I'll move forward if you prefer to go ahead," Perryman continued.  
  
"Babe?" Mike asked quietly, taking Jill's hand. After all, she'd have to testify as well. He wasn't sure how she'd handle being cross-examined. Some defense attorneys could be pretty ruthless and he wasn't sure he wanted her to go through that.  
  
"That's fine," Jill answered, squeezing Mike's hand gratefully and looking at the floor.   
  
"Very well. I'll inform Winfield's attorney," Perryman said, jotting a note in the file, then getting to his feet and shaking hands with the both of them.  
  
Mike and Jill returned his handshake and left Perryman's office. Once they walked outside Jill slowly let out the breath she'd been holding.   
  
Mike looked over at her and took her hand. "Hey, it's early and we both have a rare day off together. Do you want to go down to Malibu for a while, then we can come back into town and have dinner," he offered, smiling at her.  
  
"Yeah, I'd love to go to Malibu for a while," she returned his smile.  
  
"Come on, let's go," he put an arm around her as they walked to the car.  
  
  
  
Mike was checking out the jukebox at their favorite restaurant, Charlie's, while Jill was finishing her dinner. He smiled when he spotted one song. "Perfect," he muttered to himself, dropping a few quarters into the machine. He sauntered back to their table with a grin on his face.  
  
"Any new Turtles songs?" Jill asked him as he sat down.  
  
"Nope." He took her hand in his and helped her to her feet. "Dance with me?"  
  
"Okay," she said, slipping into his embrace.  
  
He held her close to him as Van Morrison began playing on the jukebox.  
  
Have I told you lately that I love you  
Have I told you there's no one above you  
Fill my heart with gladness  
Take away my sadness  
Ease my troubles, that's what you do  
  
Jill wrapped her arms tightly around Mike's neck and rested her head on his shoulder as they danced. They stood there for several seconds after the song ended. Mike finally pulled free from Jill's grasp and looked at her. "You want to continue this at home?" He asked huskily, gazing deeply into her eyes.  
  
She nodded as he kissed her.  
  
The drive home seemed to take forever. When they finally walked into the apartment, Mike pulled Jill into his arms and kissed her hungrily.  
  
"I'm going to take a shower and wash off the sand and sea salt. Wanna join me?" He asked her mischievously, letting his lips wander down to her throat.  
  
"Every time I take a shower with you, you end up with the water and I end up freezing to death," Jill replied after a few seconds. "Besides, I don't like making love in the shower."  
  
"I never said we were going to make love in the shower. I just wanted to know if you wanted to join me. Call it water conservation," Mike corrected innocently, capturing her mouth with his once more.  
  
"Oh, it's an ecological thing. In that case, I'd love to take a shower with you," she said, kissing him fervently.  
  
Mike got in the shower first and made sure the water was at a comfortable temperature before he helped Jill in with him. He pulled her into his arms under the warm water and let his hands do a leisurely exploration of her body.  
  
"I thought we were supposed to be getting rid of the sand and sea salt," Jill reminded him in a whisper, giving into the sensations Mike was creating in her body.  
  
"Oh, we are," he promised fervently, pulling her closer to him until they were both standing directly under the warm water.  
  
They continued standing under the shower, kissing and touching, until Jill reluctantly pulled away from him and reached for the soap. By the time they got cleaned up, the water was starting to get cold. Mike stepped out of the shower and helped Jill out, wrapping her in a fluffy bath towel. As he dried her, he let his lips travel down her body.  
  
"Mike? Don't you want me to dry you off so we can go to bed?" Jill asked him in a shaky voice.  
  
"I'll dry off in a minute," he assured her in a tight voice.  
  
"Michael," she said gently, but firmly pushing on his shoulders. "Please let me dry you off. I need to touch you."  
  
"Well, who am I to deny a lady," he smiled, picking up the discarded towel and placing it in her hands.  
  
Jill started by towel drying his hair, but it became difficult to dry off the rest of his body when Mike kept kissing and touching her. She finally gave up and surrendered herself to his arms. He picked her up and carried her into the other room, depositing her on their bed. He lay down beside her and propped himself up on one elbow, watching her.  
  
"What?" She asked him, smiling at the intense look in his eyes.  
  
"I was just thinking about how much I love you," he answered honestly, brushing his lips against hers.  
  
"I love you, too," she whispered back.  
  
He began kissing her neck and throat as his fingers began a slow exploration down her body. Jill felt like she was free falling off of a cliff as Mike began to slowly move down her body. She slowly moved her hands down his chest and froze when she brushed against the still healing scar on his lower right side.  
  
He moved back up and grasped both of her hands in his. "It's okay, baby. It doesn't even hurt any more," he whispered as he once again began exploring her mouth.  
  
Jill moaned into his mouth as she reached down to caress him. She still couldn't get over how he could feel both hard as iron and velvety soft at the same time.  
  
"I think two can play at this game, milady," he vowed huskily as he began exploring her intimately. He smiled as he felt her press closer to him before she finally reached down to guide him into her.  
  
At first they moved together slowly, savoring the joining of their bodies. Jill clutched Mike to her tighter as she felt her climax approaching. She fervently cried out his name as her muscles tightened up around him. Mike kissed her hungrily as he too reached his climax.  
  
Mike slowly raised himself so he could gaze down into Jill's sleepy brown eyes. He brushed the damp tendrils of hair from her face and kissed her lingeringly before rolling over and pulling her close to him. "I love you," he whispered, kissing the top of her head as ht tried to catch his breath.  
  
"I love you, too," she answered sleepily as he traced lazy circles on her back. "Mike?"  
  
"Hmmm?" He murmured sleepily.  
  
"I had a really nice time today. Thank you," she whispered as she kissed him again.  
  
"My pleasure," he kissed her back as they both drifted off to sleep.  
  
THE END  
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